Discussions By Condition: Medical Errors

Oral Cancer if Diagnosed Properly Could have saved my Life

6 years ago, or in early 2004 I noticed some bumps on my lips and begin going to the doctors maybe 2 weeks after I noticed. I went to 2 different urgent care doctors, the 2nd which referred me to a doctor that specialized in Infectious Disease, he then referred me to a Oncologist, he then referred me to a Dermatologist. At the end of that trail I was given a cream called Aldara and told that I was being treated for fordyce spots, and that my condition derived from something to do with sebaceous sweet glands. The cream did well in hiding these bumps as I was told that they may very well come back but they were not easy to recognize not even by me, and nothing serious. The problem was treated so less than serious that my insurance company would not even pay anything on the Aldara because it was deemed as a cosmetic product for that use.

Fast forward to late July last year, 2010, I notice the bumps more than ever and people around me do also but I tell them what I had been told by doctors. So, I go on about my business until early November I start to experience things I had never noticed before like, ringing in my ears, and headaches, then I noticed my tongue was unusually white, with a thick patch and what may have been red bumps underneath, and start to feel lumps on both sides of my mouth, then comes difficulty swallowing. All of these things persist and just seemingly occur out of nowhere for the next month.

Of course I start reading for myself and figure that it is most likely cancer and that it is very late in its stages because the initial sign was simply my lip and had been missed by several physicians considering I went to doctors from early 2004 to late 2005 trying to get answers about my lip. Of course I go through all types of emotions from anger at these professionals for basically missing what could have saved my life, to questioning myself because I have never been the type that did the regular checkups I was 26 years old when I begin this search, and most 26 years old I know don't get regular checkups unless something is known to be wrong with them which could get worse and I was never afforded that privilege of being told something could be seriously wrong with you. Also during this 7 year span I have not once went to a dentist because my teeth have always been in good shape and of course I did not know that I had oral cancer or the symptoms of it and a dentist could be the person that saved my life, neither was I referred to one.

Lastly, I am most likely going to die of oral cancer within this year and I am struggling with that but not as much as you may think. Before I stepped in the doctors office I knew that this was the likely outcome I just needed it to be confirmed. On the other hand, I do think this could have been avoided if the doctors would have tried to educate me on the risks of them being wrong and what to look for in the future. A simple booklet and a more caring and knowledgable tone could have gotten it done. When I went to the doctor to get my self diagnosed confirmation of Cancer he gave me a sheet of symptoms to look for and let me know I needed to come back right away if any of these things appeared. That's all it takes is for doctors to educate, warn, and maybe even hint that they could be misdiagnosing you, but like a referee in sports they are taught to make definitive calls as they practice medicine and move on to the next person to practice on. Nevertheless, as much as I am disappointed that a group of professionals really did absolutely nothing to help me I am also aware that the cancer hiding and not physically slowing me down created the perfect storm. It's almost like it was supposed to happen this way or really it is best for me to believe that less I go to my grave a angry young man.

P.S. I had atleast 2 cases of anxiety in which I had to get medicine from doctors in this 7 year span also. I think either my body or maybe some higher being was trying to tell me something was going wrong without the painful experience that later came about with the ear ringing, sever headaches and such that eventually prompted me back to the doctors.

1 Replies:

Wow that is absolutely horrible. I know by now the odds of you still being alive to read this are probably not good but just on the off chance that you are - unexcusable, this was just unexcusable what happened to you. Even if you managed to pull through the simple fact of the matter is cancer of any sort is much easier to treat and usually far less invasive and awful for the patient when caught early on. Shamefull that anyone so young should have had to suffer anything like that. I have two sons one is 31 and the other 28. They are both very bad about going to the doctor to get what they believe are simple things looked at and this type of thing is exactly why I keep nagging at them until they either go or maybe just lie to me and say they did to get me off their back, I'm not sure. Anyhow I hope you sued the crap out of that doctor who flipped you some cream and then merrily sent you one your way.